Australia and Japan strengthen strategic partnership at Fort Queenscliff

HIGH-LEVEL discussions between Australian and Japanese officials took place in Fort Queenscliff today, marking a pivotal moment in the countries’ deepening defence and security collaboration.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, welcomed Japan’s Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defence Minister Kihara Minoru for the 11th Australia-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultation.

The consultations focused on advancing the bilateral ties between the two nations.

Deputy Prime Minister Marles said defence cooperation with Japan represented a pillar of regional stability.

“There really is no other country in the world today that we have a closer strategic alignment with than with Japan,” Mr Marles said.

“We are, all of us, dealing with a global environment which is increasingly fragile, where the global rules-based order is being placed under intense pressure.

“We obviously see that in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, we see it in the Indo-Pacific as well, we see it in the South China Sea and East China Sea… we see it with North Korea and Russia.

“There is a sense when we look at the world around us, that Japan is very much on the front line and that our neighbourhood is one where we need to be working much more closely together and building that lattice of networks across countries which are determined to assert the global rules-based order, which is in all of our national interests.”

Australia and Japan have a long-standing relationship, formalised as a Special Strategic Partnership. This partnership is supported by ongoing collaboration in areas such as defence, economics, and cultural exchange.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Australia and Japan were two great democracies that share values and interests.

“We see growing threats of disinformation, of foreign interference, of cyber-attacks to our democracies,” Ms Wong said.

“We see the undermining of rules and institutions.”

Earlier in the day, Ms Wong and member for Corangamite Libby Coker visited a local business and discussed how the Bellarine and Geelong region could benefit from the strengthened relationship between Australia and Japan.